Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving started for us the Sunday before, with lunch at Aunt Doris's house.  Since that day was also the last day of deer season, Tanner didn't make it, but Dad and Thomas quit hunting early to eat.  Lily was happy to try some new foods, including cool whip.  Yum!

No, Abby....I can't eat that!  I don't have teeth yet!

Ainsley and JD eating at the little table

JD liked the noodles!

The kids played after lunch, and then the iPads came out, which led to fighting.  Ainsley and JD both had a hard time sharing the one with the "good" games on it.

Grandpa Bill and Lily

Hudson doesn't care about that sock monkey at all!

Grandpa Bill and Hudson

Of course, we all laughed at both JD and Ainsley as they got mad at each other for having the "good" iPad!

Sarah was able to join us for lunch, and of course, gave everyone a few good laughs.  She even managed to get both babies on her lap at one point and kept them pretty entertained (imagine that!)

Lily was an overstuffed little turkey and needed her beauty sleep

It was nice to sit back and visit with everyone, without feeling rushed to get to the next place.  We had nowhere to go that afternoon, and it was nice!

My big girl!

Cotton candy after Thanksgiving lunch?  Why not!

Notice Ainsley stuffing her face with the cotton candy?!

Me and Thomas with our babies.  Aren't they cute in their hats?!

We knew it was time to go when Ainsley started acting especially bad.  She was in dire need of a nap.  We hadn't even made it to the edge of town and she was snoring.

Thanksgiving Day we woke up and I was able to do a little online shopping before we headed out!  We turned the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on tv, and kept telling Ainsley to watch the parade.  She kept running to window to look out, thinking the parade was coming by our house.  The Macy's Thanksgiving parade isn't exactly like the parades she's used to seeing!

Looking out the window for the parade!

We got ready for the day and headed down to Papa and Nanny's for lunch.  We ended up not staying long, because right after we ate, Augie was in the bathroom throwing up.   Nothing like a sick kid to clear out a house!  We got out of there as soon as we could, hoping we didn't get the germs.  Of course, we didn't get so lucky.  It took a day for it to hit our house, with Ainsley getting sick Friday night, Joel on Saturday, Lily on Sunday, and then I finally got it on Wednesday.  That next week wasn't very much fun at the Freeman house!

After leaving Papa and Nanny's, we headed to Brian and Jennifer's for the evening.  Ainsley was excited to play with Drake and "Lambie", and she calls Lani. 

Ainsley loved dancing and watching her reflection in the fireplace.

There was plenty of food to snack on before the meal was ready, and I had no problem diving in! 

Even Ainsley was hungry again!

Jennifer with my beautiful nieces!

Brianna with Lily.

After slaving away in the kitchen all day, Jennifer's feast was finally ready.  She made the best turkey I've ever tasted with her special recipe, or maybe it was just the turkey bag that did the trick.  Before we could eat, Jennifer made everyone stand in a circle while holding hands and say what they were thankful for.  I'm so glad I don't have to live with her daily and put up with her shenanigans!  Ainsley was excited to hold Grandma Eba's hand.  It was so cute!  She didn't want to let go.

Lani helping Ainsley with her mashed potatoes

Lily was hungry too!

After we ate, the girls enjoyed watching the train around the Christmas tree.  Ainsley has been mesmerized with that train (along with the ornaments on the tree) for the last two years.


Lily and Uncle Jeremy watching the train



Joel's birthday fell on Thanksgiving this year, so we stuck a candle in a piece of pie and sang Happy Birthday to him.  We were all anxious to see if Ainsley would break down crying while we sang, but much to our surprise, she didn't!  I'm hoping the stage of her crying while we sing Happy Birthday has come to an end.

Happy Birthday to you!

Deer Season

Joel was able to head down to Dad's for first deer season the weekend before Thanksgiving.  I headed down with the girls Friday night to stay at Dad's, so they could see their Daddy, but more importantly because Hudson was home!  Ainsley couldn't wait to see baby Hudson, and Lily was eager to get her hands on him, too.

Poor Hudson...

He'll get her back one of these days

Hudson was quite a bit more active than our little chunk, who could just sit in one spot and not really move.  Hudson was scooting himself around (backwards), and rolling everywhere. 

I headed home with the girls Saturday, and I left just a few minutes too soon.  Joel ended up getting a deer right as we were leaving.  Of course, my brothers talked him into getting it mounted, since it was "a nice one".  It's just another animal head to hang in Dad's spare bedroom.  I know Ainsley would have been excited to see it, but we were already home by the time Joel called.  There's always next time for the girls to see a bloody deer. 

Thanksgiving Party

Ainsley and I met Callie, her girls, her mother in law, and niece one morning the week before Thanksgiving for a Thanksgiving Party in Jerseyville.  They have these themed parties once a month, and Callie had taken the girls the month before and said the girls enjoyed it.  I thought it would be a good activity for us to get out of the house and for Ainsley to interact with other kids.  The party was in a huge gym, and they had all kinds of play equipment set up on one side of the gym, so Ainsley wanted to go over and play right away, but they had scheduled crafts and snacks before play time.

Ainsley colored, made a turkey out of a toilet paper roll, and a turkey puppet.  The kids then had a snack and played a game before being released to the plethora of toys and activities set up on the other side of the gym. 

Proud of the turkey she made

Trying to talk with her turkey puppet

Madilynn and Reese are a year older than Ainsley, so Ainsley took their lead.

Ainsley, Hannah, Madilynn and Reese

Ainsley had lots of fun playing with all the toys.  I think I'm going to have to get her a jump rope for this summer.  She ran right over to them and tried jump roping.  It amazes me the things she knows how to do.  We've never shown her how to jump rope!

They had one of those big parachute things that we played with in elementary school.  All the kids had fun sitting in the middle of it and getting pulled around in circles. 

Ainsley had trouble with sharing and taking turns sometimes, but it was a good learning activity for her!  I'm pretty sure she had a good time and it was good meeting up with Callie and the girls for a few hours!

  

Going to Grandma's and Disney Live!

I'm going to attempt to get the blog caught up before Christmas.  As you can imagine, it's been a crazy month with the holidays.  Tis' the Season!

Before Thanksgiving, Mom came and got Ainsley to stay the night with her.  Of course, I waited until an hour or so before Mom was coming to tell Ainsley, otherwise she would have bugged me all day.  As soon as I told her, Ainsley immediately was looking out the window for Grandma Shelly.  We packed her suitcase, and she wheeled her suitcase around the house for at least half an hour before Mom came to pick her up.

Once Mom got to the house, Ainsley thought they needed to leave right then.  I love how I'm chop liver as soon Grandma Shelly walks in the door.  Ainsley ended up staying two nights at Grandma's house and Rowdy also stayed.  Rowdy and Ainsley had lots of fun playing (and getting in trouble) together.  Ainsley follows Rowdy around and has to mimic everything he does, which isn't always a good thing!!!

Where's Ainsley?

Busy watching tv eating bananas

I took Ainsley home for the night before meeting Mom in Springfield the next day to see a Disney Live show.  The show was "Three Classic Fairytales", with Cinderella, Snow White, and Belle.  I was worried that Ainsley wouldn't enjoy it or sit through it, since she has never paid much attention to the Disney princesses.  A few days before the show, she found one of my old Cinderella books in the basement and loved reading it.  I bought her a little Cinderella tiara and necklace to give her before the show, hoping she would be excited.  She ended up being very excited (especially since Grandma Shelly went with us) and actually sat in her seat waiting for the show to start.  Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald all narrated the show, which helped keep Ainsley's attention.  She loved seeing Mickey!  She was excited about seeing "Cind-a-weh-wa" too!

She sat really good for the first show, and started losing interest halfway through the second.  By the time the third show came around, she was done.  I had so much fun watching Ainsley's face light up at the beginning when Mickey came on stage and watching her reactions to various things.  I'm hoping I can talk Joel into taking the girls to Disney World in the near future.  Ainsley would absolutely love it!

During Snow White, when the stepmother started talking in the mirror and the stage got real dark, Ainsley started leaning closer and closer to Mom.  She eventually had a hold of Mom's arm and kept saying:  "I scared!"  And then kept saying she was scared of the "witch".  It was so funny!

She was scared of the witch!

We ended up leaving about 5-10 minutes before the show ended with a screaming kid, but I do think she did have fun.  It was just a little too long for her!

Best picture we could get.  Ainsley wasn't feeling it.